


Nine Lives

by eita_kun



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Familiar!Kuroo, Happy Ending, M/M, Magical!AU, it's sad, mage!kenma, then cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 16:48:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5935668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eita_kun/pseuds/eita_kun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"How many lives have you lost?"</p><p>"If I can save you with however many lives I have left, then I wouldn't mind not coming back."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nine Lives

Inspired by the tags [yurika-schiffer](http://yurika-schiffer.tumblr.com/) put on a [post](http://yurika-schiffer.tumblr.com/post/138813546194/hecktors-which-one-of-your-otp-is-the-one-to) on tumblr.

 

* * *

 

 

"How many lives have you lost?" 

 

The conversation started over breakfast; a black coffee for the black haired boy and a tea for the blond. A mage and his familiar, who took the form of a black cat most days but, for now at least, was in human form. The question was broached bluntly; the mage not one for small talk or skirting around questions that he had been meaning to ask for a while now.

 

"Um...I don't know, like, maybe 5? I've been around for ages, Kenma, I lost track." A raised eyebrow, messy hair falling in dark eyes as hands clasped around the dainty mug. It looked too fragile and delicate for the size of the fingers encircling it, Kenma thought absently as he watched the hands before frowning.

 

"So why are you still so reckless if you don't know?" 

 

Tetsurou had to fight back a scoff, as if the answer was entirely obvious. Why wouldn't he be reckless considering the dangers his mage was frequently in. "Because you're my precious owner and, as your familiar, I need to protect you." That was his job as a familiar; protect him, help him and be a companion. It was their bond, a magical contract that required that of the shifter. And maybe he took things a little too seriously when his dear Kenma was involved.

 

"I'm a mage, Tetsurou, I can take care of myself." He wasn't weak either, well he could hold his own in a fight if he really needed to. But his familiar's help was appreciated, until he was pretending to be a living shield for the smaller male and just taking whatever attacks came their way. Then it was just going too far. Because he also had to protect his stray as part of their deal.

 

"Okay but when you die then there's no coming back. But for me, I can." His reasoning was sound, he was sure it was. Let the person who can come back to life take the brunt of the attack instead of staying off to the side and only passively aiding the mage. 

 

"Until you've used up all 9 lives." 

 

"If I can save you with however many lives I have left, then I wouldn't mind not coming back." He was painfully honest. Saving Kenma from whatever might be trying to hurt him was worth any dangers that he himself might face. 

 

Kenma just fixed him with a slight glare, before making a small 'humph' noise in distaste at the thought and looking away. If the bloody shifter wanted to waste his life like that then so be it. He'd had to live (or not) with the consequences himself.

 

"Aw, you care about me dying, Kenma how cute." The teasing wasn't appreciated though, yes he cared. The idiot knew that and exploited it to his advantage whenever he could get away with it.

 

"Just shut up and drink your coffee."

 

"Rude."

 

 

 

 

A week later, and Kenma was lying face down underneath the kotatsu, feet sticking out from the cover as he played on his PSP while the TV played some Japanese drama in the background. He liked the buzz of activity around him, found it enabled him to delve further into his own world while still keeping a grip on the reality that surrounded him. It made him feel less alone. The habit had been picked up when Tetsurou had insisted on watching a drama while he was playing a game, and he'd initially argued before settling down and realising that having his legs intertwined with Tetsurou's and having the background noise was quite comforting.

 

Tetsurou had gone out to get supplies for their kitchen; both conventional groceries and alchemic components. He'd left a couple of hours before and so would be back any minute. Kenma wasn't going to worry yet; maybe he'd start getting agitated in another 2 hours or so.

 

But when it had been 5 hours since he'd last seen the black haired man, he felt the concern make his chest tighten and he moved to stand up, only doubling over in gasping pain as he felt the unmistakeable snapping of their bond. 

 

There were only 3 ways for a bond to be broken: the familiar had to be killed, the mage had to be killed or the contract had been nulled. Kenma was still alive, their contract was still going strong...so Tetsurou must be...

 

" _No... no, no, no, no... please don't be the last one.."_

 

 

 

 

It hadn't been his last one. Though they could tell he was coming close to the limit of his incarnations with each time that he'd sacrificed himself.

 

1...

 

2...

 

3...

 

He slowly got more careful, more cautious and listened to Kenma's instructions more. But that didn't seem to be enough.

 

 

 

 

" _Tetsurou!"_

 

_"Kenma, dammit, he's gone.... fuck, Keiji, get him out of here before they come back!"_

 

_"No! Get off me, I'm not leaving him, this isn't the last one!"_

 

  
_"For gods sake, he'll come back to you if it isn't but you have to be_ alive  _for that.."_

 

_Wrenching himself free of Koutarou's grip, he knew in any normal situation he wouldn't have been able to but the adrenaline still coursing through his veins and the anguish at seeing his lover fall made him inherently stronger than he could have imagined._

 

_Collapsing to his knees by the body of his familiar, he immediately gathered him into his arms, blood that might have been his own but was probably Tetsurou's drenching his shirt as he broke down and near howled in anguish._

 

_"God, no, please come back, please come back...this can't be it.."_

 

_He must have looked a state, kneeling in the middle of a street in heavy rainfall with the quickly cooling form of his boyfriend clasped tightly in his arms as he begged the deities to not take this hopeless stray away from him._

 

 

 

 

A month had passed since Tetsurou's death, the closure of his 9 lives on Earth. He'd spent the last 4 with Kenma, over the course of 5 years. Came into Kenma's life when the boy had been 16 and left it finally when he was 21.  Their time was cut short.

 

Each time his human incarnation was that of a boy somewhat matching Kenma's age, only being a year older each time. He had been too young, much too young to die.

 

It reminded Kenma of his own mortality, and how he should take better care of himself so Tetsurou's sacrifices wouldn't be in vain. So the man who loved him, and had given his lives away so he could live, could rest knowing his lives had gone to a good cause. Or at least, the mage hoped that would be the case.

 

He hadn't been coping well, the sound of the TV had only gotten louder with days going by and his bed was far too cold without the usual space heater pressed up close to him as he lay cocooned in his arms. His nightmares, terrible visions of faceless terrors whispering and beckoning him into darkness, came back even stronger now that he didn't have the comfort that was the heartbeat of his familiar and lover.

 

The clock on the side read 3:04am, blue lights too bright for his eyes to cope with and he turned away, pulling the covers over his head as he sighed into the stifling silence. How pathetic...

 

He heard his front door open and shot up in shock, ready with a spell to attack whoever had dared break into his apartment while he mourned. Let people wallow in their grief for a while... 

 

"Kenma?" The sound of his name, and the familiarity of the voice made his heart jump into his throat and he almost leaped out of bed to hurry into the hallway to see the newcomer.

 

"Tet...su...rou..?" 

 

He had to be sure, this could just be a vivid dream; another nightmare that decided to take another form, a more painful way to torture him for what he felt had been his mistake.

 

"It's me... sorry I took so long to come back..."

 

Fingernails dug into bare arms, drawing blood that beaded up and then ran in slow trails down the pale skin. In the darkness it wasn't obvious, but the mage was more concerned with how fast his heart was going because he was sure that wasn't healthy but even that paled in significance compared to how thankful he was that Tetsurou was _alive_.

 

"But I thought.....I thought you were gone, I thought you had no lives left..." 

 

"I have one left. We're equal now. We both have one life. I want to spend the rest of mine with you, for as long as I can, if you'll let me." 

 

There was silence, and Tetsurou half wondered if he was going to get the door slammed in his face but before he could retract any of his words, he heard a sob. A small choked sound that pulled at his heartstrings and sounded so full of  _relief_ that when he opened his arms, he had already known that the tiny body would fit itself against his own. 

 

They spent that night together, intertwined with skin-against-skin and lips mouthing words of love and reassurances, leaving kisses and bitemarks on sensitive skin and claiming each other's lips as their own rightful property. The newly formed cuts on Kenma's arms were covered with affection, Tetsurou's lips pressing against each mark as he murmured phrases of adoration for the other.

 

_"Never leave me again."_

_"I don't plan to, oh god I really don't plan to."_

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short thing I wrote on the spur of the moment oh god..
> 
> Do I continue this and like expand on the universe or just leave it like this?


End file.
